‘Water on Moon internally generated’

‘Water on Moon internally generated’

Mumbai: In a major revelation on Saturday, relating to the discovery of water molecules by Chandrayaan 1, project director, Mylswamy Annadurai, said that the find has dispelled age-old theories that the source of these molecules was from outside sources, but was being generated in the moon itself.
Annadurai made this announcement during a presentation at the SIES College where he honoured a large number of student toppers. “The current thinking was that only other planetary bodies were the source of water molecules in the moon. But, this mission has changed this thinking. The new theory is that the water molecules were not from an outside source, but was being generated then and there. This was now being analysed,” he told the large gathering of students and teachers.
It may recalled that soon after the announcement was made that Nasa’s Moon Minerology Mapper (M3) had discovered water molecules in the moon’s polar regions, many space experts believed that the source of water molecules could have been an outside source like
comets or solar winds. They believed that these molecules could have been deposited several billion years ago and had remained there.
In another significant declaration, Annadurai said that these water molecules were found for the first time in the sunlight region of the moon. “This is something new and we are also analysing this phenomena. The thinking was that these molecules could only exist in the shadowed regions of the moon’s crater. “Chandrayaan 1 has revolutionised planetary science,” he added.